The Igloo ECOCOOL Is The First Hardside Cooler Made With Recycled Plastic

When it comes to companies making industry-leading strides in sustainability, a cooler manufacturer located in the greater Houston area probably wouldn’t come to mind. But the Katy, Texas-based Igloo is committed to improving the sustainability of its product range of coolers because a warm planet is way worse than a warm beer.

Yesterday, Igloo announced the debut of the ECOCOOL, the first-of-its-kind hardside cooler constructed from recycled plastic. Launching this spring, the cooler gets made with a recycled resin compound and is set to disrupt the place where 6-packs go to die. The ECOCOOL comes in a range of sizes, comprised of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) sourced from milk gallons and polypropylene (PP) plastic coming from yogurt cups. 

“Two years ago, when we launched RECOOL, it was the world's first recyclable and fully compostable, biodegradable cooler. And the objective then was really simple; it was to totally eradicate styrofoam coolers from the planet,” Dave Allen, CEO of Igloo, said. “After our initial success, we took a step back, and we said, ‘hey, we have a great product, and we can really do a lot more.’ So we challenged ourselves to ask what could this become?"

In that spirit, Igloo worked with supplier BASF to create a better version of the insulation used in its coolers. That drive towards improving the sustainability of the material used has, to date, reduced the emissions equivalent of taking 58,000 cars off the road. The search for better materials didn’t stop there either, with Igloo finding promising textiles and resins made out of post-consumer plastic, often being the first to apply the materials in making coolers.

In addition to RECOOL, Igloo has created REPRIEVE, a line of soft coolers made from recycled plastic bottles. Debuting this year at retailer REI is the Packable Puffer, a soft cooler made from recycled plastics that folds into a pocket-sized bundle. 

Finally, Igloo is announcing that for the entire month of April, they will donate 100% of the profits from sales of its range of ECO products sold on its website to non-profit Keep America Beautiful.